Artistic director seeks 'gentle balance' - News - DailyTidings.com - Ashland, OR

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Artistic director seeks 'gentle balance' Roy Rains Thursday Sep 8, 2016 at 7:53 PM Sep 8, 2016 at 7:53 PM Jeffrey GillespieFor the Tidings Camelot Theatre Artistic Director Roy Rains has been on the job for a few months now since the sudden departure of Livia Genise from the company. Quills & Queues caught up with Rains to see how things were going.  JG: Roy, your latest couple of productions have been well-reviewed and highly entertaining. Is this the early result of a new direction at Camelot?  RR: Yes. There is such a gentle balance that one strives for in putting a season together. As they say "You can't please everyone!" As storytellers, we all want to take on the meaty roles or bring the audience to tears with a heartbreaking moment. But we are also charged with entertaining them with more lighthearted fare. Finding that balance and producing exciting shows with polish and professionalism is what we hope to accomplish. We have amazing technical talent and a wide array of theatrical tools to help us accomplish this.  JG: How are you finding the challenges of the job? Highs? Lows? RR: I've always loved a good challenge and this job seems to be the mother lode at times! There is an incredible amount of pressure in the short term to get the show up and running with all of the technical elements in place and hoping that it resonates. And also hoping that that resonance translates to ticket sales. And then you start the process again. The biggest challenge, I think, is trying to find the balance in the roller coaster environment of mounting show after show. It can give you a sense of seasickness over time. It helps to work with such an incredible group of artists here at Camelot! The highs and lows both fall within this process.  JG: Tell us a little about any new talent that you've been bringing to the company and how that has served your mission?  RR: One of the goals I've set for Camelot is increasing the diversity in our actor pool both in talent and in ethnic background. This means bringing in new faces and new talents. It opens up the number of stories that we can tell and it allows us to be a more accurate representation of society. One thing that will help accomplish this is less pre-casting and more open auditions. We have a few new faces in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," the most prominent being Sabrina Hebert. I first saw her as Mimi in the (Thanks for the Memories) production of "Rent" and I was blown away. Amanda McGee is another new face coming to us from (Southern Oregon University) and she absolutely lights up the stage.  JG: What's exciting for you about the 2017 season?  RR: The 2017 season was designed to have a bit of a fairy tale quality to it. What we all know and appreciate is that fairy tales tend to have dark sides and a bit of levity as well. I feel that our 2017 season has that. From the heartbreaking story of "All My Sons" to the bright and magical "Cinderella" we've tried to put these elements together to showcase not only the incredible talent that we are blessed with but to take the audiences on one incredible journey after another. Because at the end of the day that's what it's all about ... bringing the audience with us as we transform the stage into many fantastical worlds.  JG: Thanks, Roy! Ashland resident Jeffrey Gillespie is a Daily Tidings columnist, arts reviewer and freelance writer. Email him at [email protected].